Honors Theses

Date of Award

Winter 12-5-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Computer and Information Science

First Advisor

Kristin Davidson

Second Advisor

Timothy Holston

Third Advisor

Phillis George

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This project involves comparing different visualizations related to COVID-19 and higher education in order to determine key impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students in higher education, as well as higher education as a whole. The main metrics used to determine the impact were mental health indicators for anxiety or depressive disorders, enrollment numbers by control type (public, private non-profit, or private for-profit) and state for 2020 and 2021, and state mandate lift dates for a variety of mandates implemented across the United States. These metrics were analyzed both individually and against each other to determine if they had any effect on each other. The project finds that mental health indicators for higher education demographics do not generally follow the state of COVID-19 case trends, but rather it was determined by circumstances of the start of the pandemic that led to a peak in mental health indicators. In addition, an immediate impact from COVID-19 can be seen in a vast majority of universities in the United States. Overall enrollment in higher education saw a substantial decrease in the United States. Despite this, private non-profit schools were not impacted like public schools, and some of the largest private non-profit schools actually saw a large increase in enrollment per capita compared to other types of universities.

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